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Council expenses: Cities open a window on politician spending

Expense policies and disclosures vary widely across the GTA. What’s so hard about being transparent?

By Noor JavedStaff Reporter

Fri., June 1, 2012

As the town, soon to be city, of Markham will come to learn, there may be growing pains associated with taking on the status of a big city. Among them? The pressure to fully reveal politicians’ expense accounts for public scrutiny.

Transparency is the buzzword in a number of municipalities in the GTA that are contemplating following in the footsteps of Toronto, Vaughan and Mississauga. These cities, not without pain, have taken the route of providing plenty of disclosure — with lists of politicians’ expenses posted online every quarter, painstakingly detailed description of purchases, and in some cases even photocopies of receipts.

But Markham has been resistant. Currently, the town lists councillor expenses (from budgets very modest by Toronto standards) once a year — the minimum mandated by the province under the Municipal Act — and believes that is sufficient.

“I know some municipalities put on their website whether someone had the chicken salad or the T-bone steak for dinner. I don’t know if people really get the value for the money spent listing all of those details,” said Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti, who has defended the city’s practice of only posting once a year. “But I think we are transparent here; we do adhere to the provincial guidelines and we do make it public.”

But is the minimum good enough? Across the GTA, there is little consistency when it comes to councillor budgets and their expense and disclosure policies. Some municipalities have extensive policies, others don’t. Those who don’t say they follow a code of conduct and expect their councillors to abide by it. Some disclose expenses monthly, or quarterly, while most just do it once a year.

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Suzanne Craig, Vaughan’s integrity commissioner, says the notion of relying on minimum standards and codes of conduct is “outdated.”

“I think a lot of municipalities out there who haven’t adopted expense policies or whose policies are lagging, it’s because they are concerned — erroneously — that transparency means airing your dirty laundry,” Craig said. “But those jurisdictions who have taken the leap . . . have found that it protects them from criticism.”

She says it’s not about how much money is spent; it’s about being accountable to the public purse. “Whether its $40, $4 or $4,000, there has to be transparency on how an elected official is using that money,” she said. “The public is interested in how every cent of taxpayer dollars is spent.”

Markham posts a one-page breakdown of how councillors spend their $6,500 annual budget on items like gas, safety boots and vehicle repairs — but the document is buried somewhere on the town’s website and is difficult to find. To get a detailed account of what councillors spent requires filing a Freedom of Information Request that can cost up to $2,000.

Councillors representing Markham’s more than 300,000 residents have just voted to change the town’s status to that of a “city.” Supporters argued they live in an urban centre big enough to lure an NHL team and it needs to break out of its small-town personality.

While the council has asked staff to study how other municipalities handle expenses, Scarpitti says he believes becoming more transparent will also come with a cost.

“I really believe it will cost us more than how much we are allowed to spend in the first place,” he said.

Richmond Hill recently updated its expense and disclosure policy in April — after a councillor expensed a golf club set — and will start posting expenses online every quarter. Councillors in Richmond Hill have an annual expense budget of $15,800.

“In terms of public money, I think more transparency is better than less,” said Dean Miller, Richmond Hill’s commissioner of corporate and financial services, who helped implement the updated policy.

In most cities, greater transparency about expenses follows evidence that taxpayer money has been misused or mismanaged.

After years of controversy, Vaughan adopted a detailed expense policy in 2010. It now posts a detailed record of how much councillors spend of their budgets, amounts that last year ranged from $18,000 to $52,000. Toronto tracks how councillors are spending their $30,000 budgets online, in detail, every month — often with receipts attached.

Many municipalities, such as Pickering and Aurora, have expense policies but don’t require councillors to disclose details of their expenses. Others, such as Newmarket, have recently started posting detailed breakdowns of their $5,500 budgets, but do not have an expense policy.

“There is no process, no guidelines in place,” said Maddie Di Muccio, a rookie councillor in Newmarket who has been pushing council to create an expense policy and to eliminate the $1,500 personal environmental “slush fund” councillors are permitted to use toward green causes. One councillor used the money to buy jackets for his constituents that had an environmental logo on the back, Di Muccio complained. “The money is being used as a photo-op.”

She is also one of many councillors in York Region who have been critical of using expense money to pay for charity events. Without guidelines in place, any purchase can be justified, she says. As a result, she has seen some colleagues claiming expenses for webcams and swimming passes.

Newmarket council has asked town staff to consider how expense policies and procedures could be improved, but Di Muccio says that is simply a way of avoiding immediate action.

Scarpitti said he is open to suggestions that Markham staff will bring back in their report — but that the issue may actually lead to the opposite effect desired — of increasing expense budgets for councillors.

“Some councillors have said, if you are bothering to take the time to see what other municipalities do, you should compare our $6,500 to what others are allowed to spend in other municipalities,” said Scarpitti. “I’m sure we have one of the lowest budgets of any town in the GTA.”

EXPENSE POLICIES ACROSS THE GTA

York Region: A general code of conduct includes expense policies. Expenses are submitted, reviewed and approved by the chair and CEO and reported out at regional council annually, but not posted online.

Durham Region: Discloses expenses annually. Regional councillors have a budget of $10,000 over four years, but no specific expense policy.

Vaughan: Posts detailed expense information online quarterly and has an extensive expense policy. There appears to be no expense budget limit in place for councillors.

Toronto: Councillors have an extensive expense policy and budget of $30,000 a year, significantly reduced from past years. Expenses are disclosed monthly and receipts are scanned.

Markham: Councillors disclose expenses once a year and have a budget of $6,500. The expense policy hasn’t been updated in years.

Richmond Hill: Recently adopted a new expense policy that took alcohol off the table. Councillors will begin this year to disclose a detailed account of their expenses online quarterly. Councillors have an annual budget of $15,800.

Mississauga: Posts detailed expense information online quarterly, and has an extensive expense policy. Councillors have an annual budget of $19,800.

Pickering: Has a compensation policy for council. Does not post councillor expenses online.

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